Feel free to add to or edit information in this discussion tab as necessary. Please take time to become familiar with the General Keying Standards and be sure to read all instructions on the main project page. (Please note that in case of a discrepancy, project level instructions always trump general keying standards.)

Common Keying Errors Found by Reviewers

Questions and Answers

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Q: I have a page titled "Affidavit of Assessor". It has the names of the county assessor and the county clerk and a date. Would these names and date be keyed as part of the census or would the form be considered a cover page, section header?

A: I think this would be considered a cover page. -- Wiedwoman 18:51, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Q: I have a set of census data, without a location, just a date. What should I put in for township and county?

A: They would be left blank. -- Wiedwoman 18:51, 23 February 2012 (UTC)

Q: There are company-owned farms. How should these be entered? Skipped?

A: Yes, key the business name. Since there is not a business name field key the business name in the Given Name field. Business names such as Jones and Son should only be keyed as a business - do not key a separate line with the surname Jones. Annafechter 21:31, 19 January 2012 (UTC)

Q: Do we key multiple instances of the same name or do we key each unique name on am image only once?

A: If you encounter a name multiple times on a record only enter it once.

Q: Do we enter the Parents and guardians in Schedule 4, "Deaf Mute, Blind Idiotic and Insane?"

Q: In keying my first image set, I found several pages where the text was so badly faded they were unreadable. What's the correct way to key such forms?

A: If you are able to work through them you may do so. Account for each line. If you feel they are beyond you, cancel them with problems. Directions are here. --Paulmd199 18:38, 24 January 2012 (UTC)

Q: Is "Est" really a surname (it is on the drop down list)? It has appeared twice so far on the census list, eg Ackerman Est. and Swenson Est. How should we treat this?

A: I believe in this context it is short for estate. In which case "est" would be dropped. --Paulmd199 06:20, 30 January 2012 (UTC)

Q: I have an image set which consists just of lists of names. Sometimes they use dittos for the last names for people in the same family, and sometimes they go on to the next page (image). Should I mark [Blank] or get the last name from the page before?

A: Since this project does not have a specific instruction to carry over surnames from the previous image, you should use [Blank] for the surname of those people. --Kateshort2 21:48, 29 January 2012 (UTC)

Q: I have an image set which consists of lists of names grouped into families. The first one or two people in the family have the forename and surname written in full but other members of the family just have a forename. There are no ditto marks after the forename but the scribe has left a blank line between each family group. Do I enter the surname for everyone who is obviously in the same family group or do I mark the field as blank? Thanks!

A: I've found the answer on the message boards: treat them the same as if dittos were written ie enter the surname for every person in an obvious family group except where the group goes over two pages. In this case the surname needs to be left blank.

Suggestions/Additions

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Since the project is "Kansas, City and County Census", and there are some forms that are preprinted with "____ City, ____ County" intstead of Township, can the project wiki & instructions be amended to specify that City data should be entered in the Township field when City is on the form instead of Township?